Tears Taste Like Rain
by Mechanical Sketch
Summary: Highschool mistakes can ruin you life. Naruto and Sauke find out the hard way that happily ever after dosn't come without a fight. sasunaru , au . Lemon in later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

This story starts the same way every other one does. With a girl. That girl was not me. I'm not even a girl actually. No, that girl was named Sakura. I had a crush on her till I was fifteen years old. She probably didn't even know I existed. Whatever. We were in the same class in middle school, and ended up going to the same high school. She was cute and popular; I was an orphan from the bad side of town. Her parents were respectable church goers, my foster parents were gay teachers. Basically it was an impossibility that she would ever even look at me. And she didn't. No, even though we spent hours together in our junior and senior years, she was never there for me. It was my best friend that she was after. And who could blame her? He was tall, dark and handsome. He was the youngest son of the richest man in the state, he had untapped talent in sports, arts, and academics… and he was a stoic emo bastard. What wasn't to like? Ever girl in the city was after him. He was Sasuke Uchiha, and there was nothing that would change that.

They started dating in the beginning of our third year. I think he did it out of boredom, or possibly as an attempt to discourage his rabid fan girls. Love? No, he didn't love her. But I think she thought he did.

So what does this have to do with me you ask? Well while Sasuke and Sakura played the outwardly perfect star couple, I played the bastard's best friend role. My name is Naruto. Naruto Uzimaki. Bright, happy, energetic, and a lady killer. Yeah, I know, I sound perfect right? Well I am! Well, aside from my habits of landing in detention and breaking anything glass that's handed to me. But who really needs that priceless antique vase anyways? But I perfect as I am, that was never enough when standing next to the bastard. You'd think sunshine leaked from his ass the way people treated him. I mean seriously, this one time I slept over at his house, and I swear halfway through our stupid movie marathon five girls through a rock through his window with little hearts drawn all over it with lipstick. We had to call the police just to get rid of them.

But his amazingness is not the point of this story. Because he screws up too, as rare as that occasion is. And this one time, he really screwed up.

The whole thing started a Kiba's party. It was one of those 'yay, it's summer and we're free!' parties. You know? It was the very end of our senior year, and everybody was ready to forget high school and get on with college and jobs, and whatever else life decided to throw at us. And man was this party a big one. Dog boy had seriously gone all out. His girlfriend was rich and quite, but she loved helping her man in anyway she could, so the party was held at her families summer house. It was awesome. Lights and noises everywhere, people dancing and laughing (and occasionally puking). The whole night was a whirlwind. Defiantly a night to remember.

And the morning after was even more memorable.

Or maybe I should say the month after. Yeah, that would be more precise. See, that was the time when our whole world came crashing down around our ears.

Two weeks after the party Sasuke and I were sitting in our favorite little restaurant, I was slurping down my fifth bowl of ramen, and the teme was picking at his salad, when his annoying girlfriend showed up and scooted herself between us. Yes, I called her annoying. In the last four months of high school she had become a constant and persistent bitch, and I only tolerated her because she was the only girl Sasuke had ever shown the smallest interest in. Anyways, that day she ordered a slice of pizza, and after nearly half an hour of stupid mindless jabber about movie stars and local gossip she blurted out the three words that brought my world as I knew it to the end. No warning, they just popped out, almost as if they were a continuation of her last sentence about Ino's boobs.

"Sasuke, I'm pregnant."

We all sat there in stunned silence for about twenty minutes. Sasuke just froze up. I mean, he was never a talkative or social person to begin with, but he was totally shut down. He looked like someone had shot him with a tranquilizer gun. And I probably didn't look too much better. I Finally pulled myself together when Sakura stood up and said goodbye to us. I waved to her then pulled the blank raven to his car. Somehow we ended up back at his mansion with out getting killed, and I gave him a cup of strong coffee. We sat on his couch for the rest of the night, not moving or talking except when I got up to refresh our drinks. It was sunrise before he said a single thing.

The sun was just peeking out over the edge of the mountainous horizon. Through the large living room windows we could see all of the valley stretched out before us. The whole world was holding it's breath it seemed, and we were the only two people in existence as the sun battle the indigo night for the sky. It seemed as if the sky was splattered with the blood of their battle as the red clouds drifted across the horizon.

"I loved the sunrises when I was little," Sasuke said in a rough voice. I looked up at him from my place next to him on the couch. "They used to remind me of new beginnings. Almost like everyone was being given a second chance."

I studied his blank pale features. The sun cast gold and orange hues onto the delicate curves, and in that moment I could have sworn he was made out of marble, and this whole time my best friend had been nothing but beautiful Greek statue. I turned back to the blooming sun. "I like that perspective. It's happy, in a way." I herd a snort from next to me.

"What am I going to do, Naruto?" Sasuke asked, his voice wobbling with emotion for a moment.

"I don't know." I seriously could think of anything to tell him. I knew he would screw up eventually, but I didn't know it would be this bad.

He shifted from his position, laying his head on my lap and curling into a ball on his side, still watching the sun rise. "Tell me it's going to be ok. Please," He whispered. I was silent, my tong unwilling to move. "Please, just lie to me"

I gently ran my fingers through his hair as the sun came up completely over the horizon.

"It'll be ok," I said finally "Everything will be ok."

I could feel a wet patch on my knee, and I knew he was crying. I just sat there, whispering that he would work it out. And that was the only time I ever saw Sasuke Uchiha completely vulnerable.


	2. Chapter 2: Say goodbye

Sasuke ended up doing what any respectable man would do, given that he impregnated his girlfriend at a high school graduation party. Two weeks after she broke the news to us in that tiny little restaurant he got down on one knee and asked her to be his wife. I still think that his father probably had something to do with his decision to enslave himself to the pink haired bitch. Sasuke's old man is pretty old fashion, and this is defiantly one of those things where tradition is called into play.

The wedding arrangements were made quickly, so that no one would be surprised when the little screamer showed um eight months later. Sakura was all over the place, mailing invites, dragging Sasuke to cake tastings, fussing over table arrangements, and everything else an egotistical girl would do if she were marrying one of the richest men around. Sasuke was a numb sort of droid the entire time. He did what he was told to with little to no emotion. He was a blank wall except when the two of us would escape the bustling preparations taking place in his house, and join my parents at a small bar their friend, Jiraiya, owned. My parents always welcomed Sasuke into their home without question. Iruka and Kakashi were to of the coolest people I ever knew, still are actually. I don't know how perverted old Kakashi ever convinced innocent bashful Iruka to go out with him, let alone get married, but I never once regretted having them as my adoptive parents. I think they actually understood what Sasuke felt as his feature was planned and he drunk away whatever pain he could.

The wedding day came too soon. It was too soon for Sasuke, and too soon for me. I know that being the best man at your best fiend's wedding is supposed to be all happy and what not, but it's really hard to be happy when you're watching the man you love sign off his feature to some bitch you thoroughly hate.

Yeah, I said it. I love Sasuke. I think I realized it when we were sophomores. He was the only one there with me when I had a mental break down and started pretending to be a fox in a public bathroom. It wasn't the actual process of believing I was a fox that made me love him, it was waking up next to him the next morning in a jail cell and with his arms wrapped around me and his breath fanning over my face. Apparently when the security at the mall had come to take me to the holding cell for public disturbance he had refused to let me go alone, and had agreed to spend the night in the cell with me, so long as I wasn't left by myself with the three fat guys I was sharing the place with. There was something about knowing that he would risk being in a cage with potential molesters all night just to protect me that made me fall for him in about two seconds. Funny how that works.

So now I watched as the flower girls ran through the church lobby, giggling and laughing in their pink dresses and I felt a sickening feeling rising at the back of my throat.

"Hey man!" I turned to see kiba bounding up, looking sharp in a crisp tux, probably Hinata's doing. "This is for you." He stuck out a small piece of folded paper infront of my face.

" Thanks." I mumbled, taking the paper and unfolding it as Kiba ran off to play tag with the flower girls. The paper was small, and there were only two words written across it.

'_Out back.'_

I folded it back up and stuck it in my pocket. I check my watch and glanced around before exiting the church through a side door and slipping through the side gardens to the back.

Sasuke was standing with his back leaned against the building's white wall. There was a small pile of cigarette butts littered around his feet and he was lighting another with shaking hands. He lifted his gaze at the sound of my footsteps and his obsidian eyes lock with my crystal blue ones for a moment.

"You know smoking is bad for you, right?" I said, walking up to him and leaning against the wall next to him.

"Sure it is," He replied blankly.

"You're gonna smell like shit when you're up there saying you're 'I do'."

"Yup."

"Do you have an extra?"

He snorted and held out a half empty pack to me. The drugs that polluted the black carbon eased my nerves, pushing back my impulse to vomit on Sakura's hideous pink wedding dress.

"So."

"so"

"What do you plane on doing?" Sasuke asked, taking a long draw at the cigarette.

"What do you mean?" I asked, twisting my eyebrows in confusion.

"I mean what are you going to do with you're life? I'm the one marrying the banshee, not you. So what do you plan to do with your life?"

"Oh, um," I had thought over my possibilities multiple times, but all I had really settled on was that I couldn't stay here. I couldn't stick around and watch Sasuke and Sakura have kids, and I couldn't go to the family barbeques, and I would never move on if I was constantly reminded of what I had lost. "I think I'm going to go to college. I have a couple of scholarship offers. I think I'll head out towards the east coast. Maybe I'll go to art school. My dad's would like that, and it could be fun."

"So you're moving away." It wasn't a question, but I nodded anyways. There was a ringing above us and we both looked up at the bell tower as its huge metal cup swung back and forth.

"You need to be inside," I said in a quiet voice, "You're gonna miss your own wedding." I chuckled a little and gave his shoulder a friendly punch. Before I could let my hand drop back to my side I felt his strong thin fingers wrap around my wrist, and suddenly he was much closer to me. I took a step back in surprise and felt myself collide with the wall.

"Naruto," The whisper was soft, and it sent a shiver rippling down my spine. He was too close, much too close. His nose brushed against my neck as he said my name again, and the soft wind from his breath trickled into my collar.

"What?" My whisper was more of a squeak, and I felt my manliness go down a couple of notches.

"I'm going to miss you."

His lips were on my lips, and his hands were on my body. I cried as I clutched to him, holding his head close and devouring his mouth with my own. I felt delicate fingers gripping at my hips and running along my back, urging me on, bringing me closer. Then it was all over. A voice broke through our bubble of bliss, and the moment was broken as we pushed away from each other, turning to face the person.

"Wow. Ok. Um…yeah, wow." Kiba stood with his mouth dangling open, his big brown eyes wide with shock.

"This wasn't- I mean we didn't…" My miserable attempts at explaining were lost on the staring man.

"Uh, well, Sakura wanted me to tell you that we need to start the ceremony now. You're um, you five minutes late." Kiba looked down and shuffled his feet.

"I'm coming." Sasuke's voice was cold and indifferent. He straightened his jacket and walked calmly to the church entrance, never once looking at me. I stared after the tall raven for a minute, letting the silence wrap around me.

"Hey, you coming man?" I glanced up at Kiba who was standing next to me, his eyebrows arched in anticipation. I glanced back at where the raven had disappeared, before answering breathlessly.

"No. I just..."

"Hey man, it's cool, I get it." He held out his hand and grasped my forearm comfortingly. "I'll see you around." Then he turned and walked back into the church. I stood there for a few more minutes, the turned and walked slowly to the parking lot.

As I climbed into my orange bug I glanced at the chapel. "No you won't."

That night I pack a bag of cloths, and all my worldly possessions into two bags, tossed them into my trunk and drove out of town. I sent in my confirmation letter to the New York College of Art and Design (the one furthest from my home town in sunny California) and kept on driving till I reached the bay. I left behind friends, family, memories and a broken heart, and I never once looked back.

Until now.


End file.
